Medical devices are packaged in many different ways. Devices to be used intraluminally within a patient are, of course, subject to sterilization requirements, affecting selection of materials for packaging, and in some instances the construction or design of the package itself. Still other concerns related to the relative ease of removing medical devices from a package, and suitability of packaging materials for long term storage. For these and other reasons, a great diversity of packaging materials and packaging design has developed over the years.
One class of medical device commonly packaged in a specialized manner includes those made from shape memory materials. Such devices may need to be loaded into a delivery catheter or the like in a state different from the natural rest state of the device. Packaging tubes and the like are commonly used to maintain the device in a state suitable for loading. U.S. Pat. No. 5,765,682 to Bley et al. is directed to a package for a medical device made of an expandable or shape memory material. The package includes a sheath containing the medical device, and having a tear away or peel away feature which provides easy access to the medical device when needed. While Bley et al. may work well for its intended purposes, the techniques are less well suited to certain types of medical devices and device delivery strategies.